We are fortunate to have a team that can draw on considerable experience across many disciplines

Our India-based office includes people with backgrounds in some of the world’s leading NGOs.

Our education experts are drawn from leading primary schools in the UK and India.

On the corporate side, the analytical understanding and thorough approach of our people reflects their experience in some of the world’s leading commercial and consulting businesses.

Senior Management

Steve Cutts

Chief Executive Officer

Steve has wide-ranging senior level experience in international organizations, delivering results and driving major reforms to improve effectiveness and efficiency. He served from 2013 to 2017 as United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for the Office of Central Support Services in New York, and was previously Assistant Secretary-General for Corporate Affairs at the Commonwealth Secretariat. Before this, he held various senior positions in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, including Chef de Cabinet and Deputy Executive Director.

Ros Hancell

DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION

Ros manages educational strategy and leads our team of ‘outstanding’ rated primary educators. She has over 20 years teaching experience in primary schools both in the UK and overseas where she developed and refined her vision for learning.

With 11 years of experience as a Head Teacher in two very different schools, Ros has significant expertise in school improvement. She has a particular interest in using class-based ‘action research’ as a vehicle to inspire and engage teachers and learners.

Thomas Arackaparampil

Country Director, India

Thomas manages field operations in India and has more than 20 years of experience in the development sector. Thomas was Head of Oxfam Intermon (India) and Country Director for Oxfam in the Solomon Islands. With Oxfam Australia he oversaw the re-structuring of operations in East Africa and East Asia.

Peter Thomas

Chief Finance Officer

Peter is a chartered accountant with over 20 years of experience working in financial and operational management for international businesses. Prior to joining Reach to Teach Peter was Finance Director of Bain & Company and Monitor Company, both leading international strategy consulting firms.

Deepti Mathew

director, Strategic planning and Performance

Deepti’s role is to coordinate the development and delivery of intervention models and programmes across Reach to Teach. She brings her experience of designing and leading large-scale transformation projects in over 15 countries across the globe.

Prior to joining Reach to Teach, Deepti worked with Oliver Wyman, Capgemini, Accenture and Unilever, based first in India and then the UK.

The Board

Richard Meredith

Chair

Richard is a partner and head of the Crisis Advisory Group at Brunswick Group, a leading communications consultancy firm. He is based in London, although his business interests take him to Africa, the US and the Middle East.

He was formerly a communication director at the UK National Security Council, following a long career in the British Diplomatic Service. His UK positions included secondments to HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office. He was head of the Counter Terrorism Finance Task Force, and headed policy on Africa and the Middle East. He spent eight years in Africa and his diplomatic postings included Central America, the US, Germany and South Africa.

Richard is also a trustee of Medical Aid Films, delivering primary health care training in the developing world. He was educated at Trinity Cambridge and Rice University Texas. He taught in India in 1979. He is married with four children.

Soumya Rajan

VICE Chair

Soumya is Chief Executive Officer of Waterfield Advisors, which is a specialist firm that advises family owned businesses and trusts. Previously she was Managing Director and Head of the Private Bank for Standard Chartered in India.

Sanjeev Gandhi

Founder and TRUSTEE

Sanjeev is a partner at M&G LLP, an investor in and advisor to UK based small cap businesses. Sanjeev founded Reach to Teach in 2003 following a career in the media and technology sectors - including roles as a partner at Marwyn Management Partners and as the Director of Strategy and Distribution at Yahoo! Europe. He also worked at BBC Worldwide and as a consultant in Coopers & Lybrand's Global Telecoms Group.

Richard Broyd

Trustee

Richard is a Director of Waypoint Capital, Affidea, Esaote, Northill Capital and the Start Network for Humanitarian Aid.

Vaibhav Manek

Trustee

Vaibhav is a chartered accountant and a US certified public accountant. He leads the Business Advisory Practice of KNAV, a firm which specializes in providing cross-border business advisory, accounting, assurance and tax advice to international businesses. He is a co-founder at KNAV which began in 1999 and he was a co-founding partner at Grant Thornton in India between 2001 and 2005. Vaibhav advises businesses on growth, structures, business models and value unlocking.

Mala Ramadorai

Trustee

Mala has over 25 years experience in the education sector. She was Head of Training at Schoolnet India and Vice Principal at Bombay International School. Mala is currently Chairperson of Citi Academy for Special Education and is on the Advisory Committee of Mumbai’s National Centre of Performing Arts. Mala is also a renowned singer who performs throughout India and internationally.

Maya Sinha

Trustee

Maya is the Founder Director of Clear Maze Consulting, a consulting firm that provides advisory services to corporate clients and government. Before founding Clear Maze in 2013 Maya was the Executive Director at Core Education and Technologies for three years and prior to this she worked for the Indian Revenue Service where she held various positions including as a Commissioner in Delhi and Mumbai. She served as Deputy Chairman of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust which was her last assignment with the Government of India before taking voluntary retirement and setting up her own consulting business.

Matthew Symonds

Trustee

Matthew is Defence and Security Editor for The Economist. Having joined in 1997 as IT and Communications Editor, he went on to become Political Editor and author of the Bagehot column. Matthew was a co-founder of The Independent and was its Editorial Director and Deputy Editor from 1986 to 1994.